Didn't see a better place to post this without starting a new thread....
I've had my insulated Exped Air Mattress for about 10 years now. It has the separate inflate and deflate valves on it. It's been a good little mattress except for last few years, an occasional slow leaking of air.
Since air pressure leaking was sporadic, I kept thinking maybe it was losing air because of temperature changes- kinda like our tire pressures change with < > temps. After my recent camping excursion, 2 of 3 nights the mattress was to low of pressure to be comfortable after 5-6 hours.
I was dreading trying to find and patch or even worse buying a new mattress. So, I looked on YouTube for some ideas. My lucky day, first vid was a guy from Australia that recommended always checking the mattress valves first (most common place for leaks). Use wet sponge with dish soap to find leak. For me it was the inflate valve leaking in 2 places 180* from each other, much better than a punctured mattress...
The valve on the YouTube mattress had an O-ring. The guy recommended removing O-Ring and wrap cap with PTFE tape, then replace O-ring and check for leaks again.
My Exped valve caps have no O-rings, but some small raised rings on the caps that plug into the valve openings. I wrapped the inflate valve with the PTFE tape (double thickness), re-inflated mattress, folded it over to increase pressure, then applied soapy water to check for leaking.
Good results, no leaking at all !!
I will now pack a little roll of PTFE tape in the bag with my air pump and hope my Exped last another 10 years.
Happy Camping....
I've had my insulated Exped Air Mattress for about 10 years now. It has the separate inflate and deflate valves on it. It's been a good little mattress except for last few years, an occasional slow leaking of air.
Since air pressure leaking was sporadic, I kept thinking maybe it was losing air because of temperature changes- kinda like our tire pressures change with < > temps. After my recent camping excursion, 2 of 3 nights the mattress was to low of pressure to be comfortable after 5-6 hours.
I was dreading trying to find and patch or even worse buying a new mattress. So, I looked on YouTube for some ideas. My lucky day, first vid was a guy from Australia that recommended always checking the mattress valves first (most common place for leaks). Use wet sponge with dish soap to find leak. For me it was the inflate valve leaking in 2 places 180* from each other, much better than a punctured mattress...
The valve on the YouTube mattress had an O-ring. The guy recommended removing O-Ring and wrap cap with PTFE tape, then replace O-ring and check for leaks again.
My Exped valve caps have no O-rings, but some small raised rings on the caps that plug into the valve openings. I wrapped the inflate valve with the PTFE tape (double thickness), re-inflated mattress, folded it over to increase pressure, then applied soapy water to check for leaking.
Good results, no leaking at all !!
I will now pack a little roll of PTFE tape in the bag with my air pump and hope my Exped last another 10 years.
Happy Camping....
